Boris Eifman’s ballet Anna Karenina is a true burst of inner psychological energy and is amazingly precise in delivering emotional impact upon its viewers. By setting aside all secondary storylines in Leo Tolstoy’s novel, the choreographer focused on the love triangle “Anna – Karenin – Vronsky”.

Using dance language, Boris Eifman in his ballet managed to portray the drama of a woman being reborn. According to the choreographer, it is the love passion, the “basic instinct” which has led the heroine to the breach of the then current norms of social morality, killed motherly love in Anna Karenina and destroyed her inner world. Being so completely consumed and crushed by passion, a woman is ready for any sacrifice.

The choreographer says that his ballet speaks not of previous times but of today: the timeless emotional content of the performance and obvious parallels to reality can’t leave the contemporary viewer indifferent. The brilliant technical mastery of the company’s dancers and Boris Eifman’s astounding choreography present to us in a remarkably impressive way all the aspects and peripeteias of the Tolstoy’s novel.

Boris Eifman - Artistic Director of St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet

People’s Artist of Russia, the Laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, the laureate of the Golden Mask and the Golden Soffit awards, the holder of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, 2nd class.

Boris Eifman, the founder and creator of his own theater, his own style, and his own ballet universe, who is called “one of the leading choreographers in the world” and an “amazing magician of the theater”, was born in 1946 in Siberia, into a family that was connected neither with ballet nor the theatre. From early childhood, however, he wanted to express his feelings and his thoughts in body language, in dance. He himself would later say, “For me, ballet is more than a profession. It is a means of existence, my mission on this earth. Using its resources, I am compelled to convey what is given to me from on high. Most likely, I would simply suffocate on my emotions if I didn’t have the possibility of expressing them through art. For me, choreography is art that is deeply religious, in the broadest sense of the word.”

The innate sense of movement and the “instinct to compose” brought him to the Leningrad Conservatory, where he studied in the Choreography Department, and then to the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, where he worked for ten years as a choreographer, composing new works for student performances. Finally, in 1977, he formed his own ballet ensemble. This is the moment when the Eifman story began, as, with his talent, with his blood and sweat, with his energy, dedicating himself a full twenty four hours a day, he began to create his own theatre.

Eifman brilliantly combined cutting-edge achievements in the world of ballet with what he learned in the academic school of classical Russian choreography, to which he traces his roots. “What I do can be called the dance of emotions, free dance, a new language, in which classical ballet, modern dance, ecstatic impulses and many other things are interwoven…,” he said at the time. His dancers, who had an exclusively academic grounding, had to acquire a new vocabulary of body movement. It was a completely different kind of choreography, whose fundamental principle came into being as the troupe was formed by Eifman.

Eifman Ballet was established by Boris Eifman in 1977 (the original name of the company was the Leningrad New Ballet). The concept of the New Ballet was more than innovative for its time: from the first days of its work it was conceived and developed as an experimental laboratory, a ballet theatre for one choreographer.

The company’s first performances such as Two-Voice and Boomerang brought success and stirred intense interest of the audience; ballet critics began arguing about new tendencies in the Russian ballet. Advocates of the traditional ballet school, however, were rather reluctant to acknowledge the young choreographer’s authority. Eifman’s novelty in how he chose literary basis and music for his ballets, the audacity of the body movement vocabulary secured for him the reputation of “a choreographic dissident”.

In late 70s – early 80s Eifman’s theatre is working out its own individual approach to repertoire formation. More and more new ballets based on the world classical literature appear on the playbill. The choreographer and his company, characterised by an outstanding dance intellect, explore new genres. Boris Eifman creates performances whose distinguishing feature is the strikingly sharp choreographic patterns, intended to express the fiery passions of ballets’ characters: The Duel, The Idiot, The Mad March Day, or the Marriage of Figaro, The Legend, The Twelfth Night, Master and Margarita, Murderers etc.

Today St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet is renowned among ballet lovers in Asia, Europe, the Americas and in Australia for such ballets as Tchaikovsky;I, Don Quixote;Red Giselle, Russian Hamlet, Anna Karenina, The Seagull, Onegin, Rodin, Beyond Sin, Requiem and Up & Down. These works were generally recognised. Not only they represent the highest artistic level of achievements of the contemporary Russian ballet, but also turn the audience to the immortal spiritual heritage of Russian and world culture that inspired the choreographer and his dancers.

Boris Eifman’s endeavour to engage his spectators in the infinite world of human passions, to form a spiritual liaison with the audience, to amaze viewers by the brilliance and dynamism of his plastique – all this has ensured a decades-long success of Eifman Ballet’s performances at leading venues around the globe.

Boris Eifman is a philosopher choreographer. He is earnestly concerned with the problems of today, with the secrets of creativity. The choreographer speaks openly with his audience about the complicated and dramatic aspects of human life; he defines his genre as “psychological ballet”. The New York Times calls Boris Eifman the leader among living choreographers: “The ballet world in search of a major choreographer need search no more. He is Boris Eifman.”

The company is distinguished by its brilliant technique, unique dedication and high onstage intelligence. Today excellent dancers, winners of international ballet contests and laureates of the Russian Government prizes in the field of culture, holders of the prestigious Golden Mask and Golden Soffit awards, implement Boris Eifman’s ideas: Oleg Gabyshev, Dmitry Fisher, Nina Zmievets, Lyubov Andreyeva, Anastasia Sitnikova, Sergey Volobuev and others.

An important period in the company’s life began in 2011, when the Government of St. Petersburg took a decision to launch the construction of the Boris Eifman Dance Academy – a project originally initiated by the choreographer himself. In September 2013 the Academy announced the start of its first academic year.

Another Eifman-initiated ballet institution is to be built and opened in St. Petersburg in the near future. It is the Boris Eifman Dance Palace envisioned by Boris Eifman as a new world center of dance arts.

Forming an original ballet repertoire of modern Russia based upon the rich traditions of Russian psychological theatre, along with searching for and developing new forms of choreography of the XXI century are among the key priorities within the artistic mission of Boris Eifman and his brilliant company.

Synopsis

Prologue Vronsky is at a railway station where there has been an accident. Looking at Anna’s dead body, he now understands that his life has lost all meaning.

Act I Anna Karenina arrives in Moscow to visit her brother Steve’s family. On the train she meets the Countess Vronskaya, Alexei’s mother. Anna and Vronsky are introduced. By chance they are witnesses to an accident: the train crushes someone to death. At Prince Shcherbatsky’s house Levin proposes to Kitty, but she rejects him because she is in love with Vronsky. At the ball, Anna dances with Vronsky the entire evening, and he is unable to hide his admiration for the young woman. Kitty is in despair: she was expecting Vronsky to propose marriage and give her his heart. Anna returns to St Petersburg. She is troubled by thoughts about Vronsky and she wishes to depart as soon as possible in order never to see him again. But Vronsky climbs aboard the same train. At Bologoe station, Alexei declares his love to Anna. At the station in St Petersburg Anna is met by her husband – Alexei Karenin. Seeing her dearly beloved son returns Anna to her normal routine. At Princess Betsy Tverskaya’s salon, Anna meets Vronsky once again. His advances become increasingly insistent. Anna accepts them. Karenin is puzzled at Anna’s behaviour and asks her not to take any unconsidered steps and not to break the well-known laws of morality which cannot go unpunished, but Anna makes as if she does not understand her husband’s warnings. Left alone, Vronsky thinks of Anna incessantly. In a dream he sees the man crushed at the railway station, and this is followed by a succession of visions in which Anna appears. Anna comes to see Vronsky…

Act II All of St Petersburg society has assembled at the racecourse in Krasnoe Selo. At the races Anna’s eyes remain glued on Vronsky. All of a sudden Vronsky’s horse falls. Anna cannot control her emotions. She admits that she loves Vronsky to Karenin. Karenin demands that Anna leave the races with him. Karenin doesn’t like society gossiping and chattering and insists that outer appearances are kept up. Anna is seriously ill. On the verge of death she asks her husband’s forgiveness and he promises to forget her betrayal. However, on recovering from her illness Anna learns from Betsy Tverskaya that Vronsky tried to commit suicide. She leaves her husband and son and departs for Italy with Vronsky. Anna misses her son and returns to Russia. She secretly gains admission to Karenin’s house to see Seryozha, but her husband drives her out. Anna’s despair at being separated from her son and the humiliation she feels when she goes to the opera have broken her heart. The social circle in which Vronsky stands is closed to her. Tormented by loneliness and jealousy Anna sees no other solution than killing herself. She throws herself under a train.